“…Levels of these complexes may be related to disease activity, and measurement may provide a tool for monitoring therapeutic result. Increased levels of complexes between elastase and inhibitors, but also of fi-ee elastase or free inhibitor, have been reported in lung cancer [30], neonatal systetnic infection [31,32], adult respiratory distress syndrome [27,32], cervical cancer [33,34], psoriasis, eczema, and other cutaneous disor- ders [35][36][37], and these levels can be used as parameters for monotoring disease activity. In normal epidermis, anti-elastase activity is hardly detectable [1], although the presence of al-PI and a2 macroglobulin in normal skin has been described [38,39].…”